Uther's Question, and Rod, Who Had No Shortage of Gold

Rod, standing to one side, shook his head helplessly. Arthas had not had much of a choice either. Over the past two days, he and Jaina had saved quite a few people.

Yet many of those people had eventually turned into undead, and before they completely transformed, their families and relatives had been unwilling to give up on them.

Even when some had already become undead, Rod had been cursed at by their families when he purified them with the Holy Light. In the eyes of those relatives, they needed someone to vent their anger on.

Though most people could understand Rod, some extremists even believed that Rod had killed their brothers, sisters, fathers, and mothers.

Arthas had witnessed the horrifying scenes in Andorhal and the tragedy at Hearthglen, so he knew what would happen. Rod knew as well.

Trying to investigate every person in Stratholme one by one to determine who had eaten the contaminated grain and who had not, or waiting until they transformed before killing them, was simply unrealistic.

Because some people would lie, and some would deceive.

It was like the zombie virus infections in modern apocalypse movies. Until the moment of death, they would not give up. Everyone had the desire to live.

Once they transformed into undead, they would attack everyone indiscriminately. Those they attacked would become infected as well. It was an impossible dilemma.

Arthas was the one forced to make that choice, but Rod was not.

Even so, only some of the people he and Jaina had saved expressed gratitude. The relatives of those who had turned into undead and been purified by Rod's Holy Light felt nothing but resentment toward him.

"Rod, when Arthas came to find us one last time, was it right for us to refuse him?" Jaina turned to Rod and asked.

"You refused him, and so did I. Neither of us wanted to go to Northrend. It has nothing to do with right or wrong. We simply have different beliefs." Rod shook his head.

After the massacre in Stratholme ended, Arthas had calmed down. Knowing that he might not be able to face the dreadlord alone, he had come to find Jaina and Rod outside the city, hoping to invite them to rejoin his army and travel with him to the northern continent of Northrend to hunt down the dreadlord.

But Rod had refused the young prince's invitation without a second thought. Go to Northrend with you? I haven't lived long enough for that!

After thinking for a moment, the female mage told Arthas that it might be a trap and urged him not to go. But Arthas could not listen to reason. He left in anger, ignoring them both.

"You're right, Rod. This matter is over. Come back to Dalaran with me!" The female mage took a deep breath and looked at Rod.

Rod had already fulfilled his promise and helped her save some of Stratholme's citizens. Now it was time for her to fulfill her promise and take him to Dalaran.

Just then, hurried footsteps approached. A tall man holding a warhammer walked over. It was Uther.

"Lady Jaina Proudmoore, and Mister Rod, I have something I wish to ask you."

"Please, Lord Uther!" Jaina nodded politely.

"Princess Jaina, you were the last to see Arthas. Can you tell me where that child has gone?" Uther asked anxiously.

Though he had been stripped of all his duties in the Silver Hand, Uther still could not stop worrying about his disciple. He had wanted to return and see Arthas, but after arriving in Stratholme, he had not found his disciple. He had not even found Lordaeron's army.

The only person who might know Arthas's whereabouts now was likely the female mage who had once been closest to him.

"Lord Uther, Arthas has already led his army to Northrend! He is going to hunt down the dreadlord Mal'Ganis." Jaina bowed politely to Uther.

"What! That foolish boy! How could he act so rashly?" Uther sighed.

The terrifying Scourge and the dreadlord were not enemies a green boy like him could handle. He should have returned to the Knights of the Silver Hand, admitted his mistake, and then let Uther lead an army to deal with the matter.

Though deeply disappointed in Arthas, no teacher could truly abandon his disciple. Uther still prayed that Arthas would come to his senses.

At that moment, Uther also came to understand something: Arthas had had no other choice in that massacre. Some soldiers who had survived in Andorhal and Hearthglen had reported to him about the terror of the Scourge.

"Lord Uther, before he left, he invited me to go with him. But Rod and I refused together. I told him it might be a trap set by the Scourge, but he would not listen." Jaina told Uther about Arthas's final whereabouts.

"I understand. Princess Jaina and Mister Rod, you two need not blame yourselves too much. I will report this matter to King Terenas.

"Mister Rod, you helped Arthas in Andorhal and Hearthglen under a mercenary arrangement.

"Lordaeron has never been faithless. On behalf of the king, I will pay you your reward. There are fifteen hundred gold coins here, your payment." Uther waved his hand, and several heavily armored knights carried a small chest of gold coins over to Rod.

Arthas might break his word, but Lordaeron could not. Since they had hired him, they had to pay him. Uther still had the authority to decide that much.

"This was an agreement between the prince and me, Lord Uther. I did not complete the employment, so I will not accept payment.

"If you truly feel sorry about it, perhaps you could give me some guidance in Holy Light spells instead." Rod generously refused Uther's payment.

As if I need the money. I'm rich beyond measure now!

Over the past few days with Jaina, Rod had experimentally collected some lumber and ore, and found that they could indeed be credited to the system.

That gave Rod an idea. If resources could be deposited, could they be withdrawn as well? For example, could he take out units of gold?

It had been nearly two weeks since he had transmigrated here. Rod had already saved enough resources to upgrade the Town Hall into a Citadel, and he now received two thousand units of gold every day.

A unit of gold was not a single gold coin, but something like small gold nuggets. These could be withdrawn, and upon discovering this, Rod had been overjoyed.

Those fifteen hundred gold coins amounted to less than five hundred units of gold. That was not even a day's worth of output from his Citadel!

Learning some paladin spells would be far more worthwhile, so Rod directly refused the payment and hoped Uther would give him some instruction.